Trump says he’s not testifying in his civil fraud trial Monday
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated: 4:11 PM EST, Sun December 10, 2023
Source: CNN
Former President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Sunday that he is no longer planning to testify in his civil fraud trial in New York on Monday.
Trump had been expected to return to court Monday to testify in his own defense, after he was questioned by the New York attorney general’s office last month. But the former president wrote in a lengthy message on Truth Social that he “WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY,” while continuing to attack the attorney general’s case against him and the judge overseeing it.
“President Trump has already testified,” Trump attorney Chris Kise said in a statement. “There is really nothing more to say to a Judge who has imposed an unconstitutional gag order and thus far appears to have ignored President Trump’s testimony and that of everyone else involved in the complex financial transactions at issue in the case.”
Had he testified, Trump would have been operating under a gag order imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron barring commentary about the judge’s staff. The gag order – which Engoron has fined Trump twice for violating – was put in place after the former president attacked the judge’s clerk on his social media.
Trump attorney Alina Habba said Thursday that she had recommended Trump not testify because of the gag order.
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